Latch-operating mechanism for dredges.



No. 820,456Y Y PATENTE? MAY l5, 1966. Hs J. WESSNGER. LATCH fLPERTNG MEJHASM FR Dr'.

SET-EBEET i WTNESSES: INVEATOR.

A YTORNE l".

PATENTE!) MAY 15, 1906.

H. J. WESSIL'QGBR. LATCH PERATING MBGHANISM FOR DREDGES,

APPLICATION FILED E. 22, 1506.

2 SEEETSvSEEET 2t A TTORNEK Sek VV H UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

" HENRY J. WESVSINGER, OFDLUTH, MINNESOTA.

LATCH-OPERATING MEGHANISM- Fon DBEDGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1906.

Application iiled January 22, 1905. Serial No'. 297,224.

luth, in the county of St. Louis and tate of 5 Minnesota, have invented certain new end useful Improvements in Latoh-Qpereting Mechanism for Dredges and I do hereby de clerc the oliowing to be a uil, clear, end enact description of the invention, such es will enableothers sk? d in the art to which it appertains to mak nd use the same.

M v'invention relates to latch-operating mec ensm` for dredges end owershovels, and has for its ob'ect the provision of means for drawing' the etch-line -of the shovel or diIper-trap for ein tying theload.

t has fora. urt er object the provision of means for automatically len thenmg or shortening the operation o' the atcb-line according to the va ing distance of the dip .er or shovel beyon thev fulcrum of the pperhandle.

, With these and other objects'in view it consists of the constructions, combinations,

and descr-1 ed.

I n the drawin s, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion '0 a power-shovel or dredge, showing my invention mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a. detail vertical longitudinal section of one forni of a shovei-tra and of, the latch for controlling the ositio'n of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarge broken away, of a part of said shovel or dredge, showing a lortion of my invention mounted thereon. ig, 4 is an enler ed verticsi section on the-line A B of Fig. ooking forward, the part forward of the line C'D being omitted showing a portion of my said invention. ig. 5 is an enlarged detail vertice] lon 'tudiliall sectional view1 of the cylinder andiiston forming partei my said invention.

In theI drawings, is a. ortion ofthe plat form of a dredge orshove car orscow, upon which car or seow sup ortis erected the A- lrame 2. Upon said p atfor'ni is mounted in any suitable' manner a turn-table' 3, upon which is erected a di er-supporting boom e. The outer end of sai oom is su ported from is preferably rotated bythe cable 6.' VSaid boom preferably consists of the paraliel menibers 7 and 7, held in parallelism in any s uitable manner, which manner or means, zt is thought, need not be especially described as such booms are inconimonuse and we iand arran ements of pa'rts hereinafter shown side elevation, 4partly 'said Aframe by the guy 5. T e'turn-tableV known to the art. Mounted in any suitable bearings on said boom is s shaft 8, to which is keyed a gear or gears 9, adapted to be rotated by a pinion or pinions 10, whichpinions are keyed to a crank-shaft 111, mounted in suitable bear" s `on said boom. The shaft i1 is rotated y any sutsbe power, es oy an engine 12, mountedrcn said boom. Said en ine is connected in any suitable manner, as y pipes i2* and 34, with a suitable source of power-supply, as to a steam-boiler or compressed-air reservoir (not shown) supported on said car or seow.- A suitable throt-Y` tie-valve 12b may be interposed in the line ci said pipe 12* and governed by a series cf levers, as 12 12, from an operatn-stand on said turn-table. Keyed to said s aft 8 is a pinion or pinions 13. Resting ipon or against seid pinions 13 is a dip er-han e 14, extendin between the mem ers 7 and 7* .and provi ed on its lower face `with rack-teeth 14, adapted to en ege the teeth ofsaid jinion or pinions 13. 'lie dipper-handle is he din eniliging position with said pinions 13 by a sade-plate Y1 5A, extending across the upper face of said dipper-handle.and adapte slide lon 'tudina ly. thereon and secured to said sha 8 by a U boit or bolts 15. Carried by saiddipper-handle at its outer .end is a dipper 16, having s. suitable bail or` means of at tachment 1 6* for a hoisting-cable or chain l', which chain passes over'any rsuitabie idler- Wheels 1S, mounted on said boom, and

thence in an suitable direction and guided by en suits. le means to a hoisting-e e, (not s own preferably mounted on sei car or scovv. geld clipper or .shovel is provided with s 4trap 19, through which the load may be discharged held in closed position by 'a latch or springbot of an suitable construction, as 20. The spring-bo t iandapted to be drawn by a latch line or linesv 2, which, if desired, may be divided and one end of the latch or bolt connected portion attached to a lever 22 intermediate of the endsthereof, andV one end of the other portion may be attached to the free end of said'lever. The lever 22 is in such case pivs oted or hinged at its other end to said dipperhandle.

The construction thus far described is'ild in the art and inoommon use in the sameor more or less modied'vforms, and I therefore make no claim to the same per se. Howtofore, however, it has been customary to draw 'said latch-linemanually at the expense of and said trap is adapted to. be`

considerable labor, notwithstandin the aid in some casesfof said lever 22, and, urther, it

has been customary to leave sufficient slack in the latch-line to permit of the extension of nearly the full length of the flipper-handle beyond its iulcrurn without accidentally drawingr the latch. When the dipper-handle was extended only for a-part of its extreme reaching distance, this excessive slack in the latch-line would have to be taken up before the latch couldr be drawn. The adjustment of the length oi the latch-lino to various con ditions thus required considerable time and labor. My invention consists, in combination with the devices of the broad class described or modifications of them, of means for automatically lengthenin r or shortening the latchline to conform to` t e reach ofthe clipper and for operating said latch-line when desired to d raw the dipperdatch. For this purpose I construct the shaft, as 8, with an portion 8, upon which outwardly-extendin drum 23 of any' suitable I mount the loose constructiom/y preferably having a helical goo `e 23h/cut in its eri hery and referably,y also,'/having flanlgges i223" rlorrnedrithereon; On one 4end of said drum is secured or formed a pinion 24. the gears 9 I attach a cylinder 25, inclosmg a piston 26,l to which piston is attached a is,

ton-rod 27, extending through one en of said cylinder and carrying a rack 27"L on its outer end adapted to engage the pinion 24. Upon the side of said gear 9, above the rack 2 7, is preferably mounted a small-roller28, adapted to prevent thedisengagcment of said rack from. s aid pinion, though such disenvagementl would not be apt to occur even ifb said roller were not used. Extending axially in to the end 8 of theshaft 8 is a tunnel 29, hay; a4 transverse branchev at or near itsinnef end, which Vbranch extends through the shaft 8 radially in one direction fromv the tunnel'29. Inserted and secured in the outer end of said branch is a pi e connection 30,

lwhich extends in an suita le course toward dischare. The outer end` of said tunnel 25 is prefere nlar ed'andis adapted to receive the inner endo a suitable stufiing-box 32, which is secured therein. A nip le 33, preferabl flanged at its inner endl is passed loose y through said stuffing-box, and secured to' the outer end of said nipple is a pipe connection 34, extending to a suitable source of, powersupply,as to a steam-boiler or com pressed-air reservoir, (not shdwn,) but ref erably mounted on the platform of sail car Interposed in said ripe connection preferably a three-way e construction, adapt- 4ed "to be operated by a lever 36, draw-rod 37, and"handlever 38.'4 Said cylinder may 'be Upon the side oi Q ne of provided with any suitable exhaust device within the scope of my invention; but l prefer that the valve 35 shall be a three-way valve, in which case the valve-casing is rovided with an exhaust-port 39, governed by the valve. The mode of operation of the valve will readily occur'to any one skilled in the art, since such valves are common. In one position, of the valve the exhaust will be closed, and steam will [low from the boiler to the cylinder 25. ln the other position oi' the valve the live steam will be cut ofi', and the exhaust-steam will return from the cylinder 25 and escape through thel port 39. The pisf` ton is thus adapted to be operated in one d irec-tion by steam. It is preferably o erated in the opposite direction by a colle( s pring' 40, interposed between the piston'an that end of the cylinder which is penetrated by the rod 27. In my invention the latch-line is secured at one end to and partly wound rack 27 to revolve the drum 23, by which the latch-line is wound in and the latch drawn. The valve 35 is then operated to 'open the exhaust and cut off` the live steam from the cylinder, and the .piston isreturned to the outer' end of the cylinder by the back spring 40. This causes a reverse rotation of the drum 23, which pays out the latch-hue.

If now it be desired to extend or shorten the i reach of the dipper, the engine 12 is operated ahead or reversed, as the case may b 'e,' thus through intermediate means, includingthe gears 9, heretofore described, rotating the pinions I3, which reciprocate the dlpper-nandle. .In this movement it will be observed the gear 9 carrying the cylinder 24, will rotate or turn some distance, and since the ldrum 23 will be locked by the rack 27 said drum Will turn with the gear 9 and pay out or Wind up the latch-line in the same proportion as the dipper is extended beyond its fulcrum or retr'acted toward it. To this end the wlnding-face of the drum 23 is or is intended to be about the same diameter as the inions 13. l

If desired, electromotive equivalents' (not shown) may be substituted Within the scopev of my invention for the steam or air operated engines which'I have described.

While I have described a dippcr dredge or shovel, I desire to be understood as including any other forms of dredgcsor other-horse ing apparatuses to which my m". ntlon may be conveniently applied.

Having now described my invention, what I eleim ie- 1. In e latch-operating 'inechenisnn the eoinllinetion with eV dredge, or enelogous hoisting epparetue, having a hoorn, e. dipper or loed-eonteinin f device carried therehy, a latch or drew ho t on seid flipper or device, und a lino lor retrectinglseid latch or bolt, of e shaft mounted on seid hoorn, a. wheel mounted on said sh erft., a. motor carried by Said wheel, e loose windingdrum attached to seid line and mounted on Seid Shaft, ineens governed b v seid motor end connecting Seid motor to seid drum und adapted when et rest' to hold seid drum` in stationery relation to seid wheel end when in independent Inotion with relation to said Wheel to turn seid drum independently oi' s'eid wheel, end Ineens adapted to rotate said wheel in either direction.

'3. In mmh-operating mechnism, the eom binzttion, withe hoisting apparatus havin e boom, e leed conteininfT device carrie thereby, a. letoh or draw bo t carried by said device, and means including eline for retrelet` ing said latch or holt, of e shaft mounted on seid boom, e Wheel mounted on seid shaft, e motor carried hy seid Wheel, e loose Windingdrum yetteehed to seid line and mounted on said Shaft, Ineens governed by said motor and connecting seid motor to seid drinn and adapted when et rest to hold said drum in Stationeni relation with ree )eet to seid Wheel, and adapted when in .in ependent motion with relation to said Wheel to turn said drum independently of seid wheel, and means adapted to rot-ete seid wheel in either direction, er to prevent the rotation thereof, as desired.

3. in latch-operating meohenisrn, the cornbination with e dredge or analogous epperetus, having e hoorn, it Shaft mounted thereon, e load-gathering device provided leitid :shalt .find ednpted with e handle supported on Seid Shaft, e leteh or drew holt carried hy seid device, e line for retreoting seid hitch or holt, e gear-Wheel on to rotate the Seme, and ineens for opereting'seid gear, of n, loose drum mounted on seid shaft and eonneoted to seid line, :t pinion loosely mounted on seid shaft and edepted to torn seid drum, e inotor carried by seid gear, end e rack engaging seid pinion end adapted to be operated by seid motor,

4, In latch-operating mechanism, the oomhinetion with e dredge or analogous hoist ing apparatus, having e boom, a leed-gathering device provided with e handle, eleteh or drew holt on Seid device, and e line for re traeting Seid ietoh or bolt, of 'e shaft, mount ed on seid boom und having en axial tunnel 'formed therein et one end, seid tunnel connecting at its inner end with a redielly-ex tending tunnel formed in seid shaft; a. winding-drum, provided with e pinion at one end, loosely mounted on said shaft, Said drum being connected with seid line; :i gear mounted on Seid shaft, find adapted to rotate the seme Ineens adapted to operate seid gear intermittently; a motor carried by seid gear; e reel( adapted to he operated by seid motor interrnirftently, and engaging said pinion; e pipe menen-tion from seid radially-'extending tunnel Eo said motor; e stuffing-hex secured in the outer end oi seid axial tunnel; enipple ex tending through seid smiling-box; e pipe conneetion from said nipple to e. source of powersupply; e poWer-Supply-governing ve ve interposed in the latter seid pipe connection; and means adapted to operate seid valve.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ellx my signature in presence of two vitnesses.

HENRY J. VVESSNGER.

Witnesses:

JAMES .lv. WATSON, S. S. RUMSEY. 

